The incident started with a routine traffic stop late Friday night in the 700 block of East Alosta Avenue (map), according to a statement from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Officers from the Azusa Police Department attempted to pull over the driver, but the man failed to stop, the Sheriff’s Department said.

A short time later, officers again located the man’s car and pulled him over.

As he exited the car, the man was “armed with a handgun in his hand and began to walk away from officers,” the statement said.

The man then “turned towards officers with the handgun in hand, at which time the officer-involved shooting occurred,” the statement said.

The man was struck by gunfire several times in the torso and pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. He was later identified as Lorenzo Aguilar, 23, of Azusa, according to Investigator Kristy McCracken of the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Aguilar was a military veteran with a history of problems, detectives said.

The shooting occurred next to a fast-food restaurant. A witness described what he saw.

“He said, ‘Are you guys going to kill me before I kill me?’ And as he moved in, I don’t know if he made a sudden movement or something, but they all fired at the same time and he dropped,” said Joseph Garcia.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau detectives were brought in to conduct an independent investigation.

A handgun was recovered at the scene, according to the Sheriff’s Department.